Since the advent of the computer and software age, software developers have attempted to provide functionality to users that are contextual in nature. For example, software has been developed for detecting that a user is entering a date into a computer-generated document as the user is typing the date. Before the user can complete the date, the software application pops up today's date to the user and offers to automatically complete the date for the user. Other software has been developed for offering users helpful actions in response to certain data entered by the user. For example, if the user's word processor application recognizes that the user has entered a date, the user may be offered an action that will launch the user's electronic calendar to allow the user to check appointments or to verify information in her calendar for the entered date. It would be helpful to users if such systems could recognize and provide actions for a variety of different types of text strings and data, such as names, dates, stock symbols, book titles, etc. Unfortunately, recognition of such text strings and/or data types may be difficult.
In the case of name recognition, words entered into a text document by a user may be compared against a list of known names to assist in the recognition of a given word as a name. On the other hand, a text string such as a five-digit number that is intended by the user to indicate a zip code may not be readily recognizable and distinguishable from other five-digit numbers included in the text. Accordingly, the five-digit text string entered by the user may not be recognized as a zip code even though the user intends that text string to indicate a zip code.
In recent years, markup languages such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) have been developed to apply structure to text and data where text and data may be tagged with markup language elements to provide contextual structure to the text or data. For example, all person names in a text document may be annotated using Extensible Markup Language (XML) tags to provide structure to the document associated with text or data entered into the document of the type “person name.” Subsequently, applications may be created for parsing the document to utilize data annotated with such markup language structure. For example, an application routine may be created to parse a text document and to utilize the XML structure associated with all names contained in the document to extract the names contained in the document for some other use. It would be helpful to leverage markup language annotation of a text or other data document to assist in recognizing text strings or data elements for providing helpful actions on those recognized text strings or data objects.
Because markup languages such as XML allow a wide range of creativity in naming markup language elements to be applied to text or data, it is common for different entities, such as two different companies to use slightly or greatly different XML element naming associated with the same type of text or data. For example, a first company may utilize an XML tag <name> for annotating names in a text or data document, and a second company may utilize an XML tag <personname> for annotating names in a text or data document. The two different entities, for example, companies, may create different sets of actions that may be called on when certain text or data types are recognized in their respective text or data documents. If the two entities decide for some reason to allow utilization of each other's text or data documents, such as the case in contract negotiations or a merger or acquisition between the two entities, or in any case in which one document creator is allowed to use a second document creator's text or data documents, it would be helpful if actions associated with recognized text strings or data objects associated with a first document marked up with XML structure according to a first XML definition used by one entity could be called upon for use in a second document in association with recognized test strings or data marked up with XML elements that are equivalent to differently named XML elements utilized in the first document.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system for leveraging markup language structure applied to text strings and data for providing helpful actions based on recognized and labeled text strings and data. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.